Eric Schultz / The Huntsville TimesNEW MARKET, AL -- Rumors about someone bringing a gun to Buckhorn High School - fueled by recent shootings in a Madison middle school and the University of Alabama in Huntsville - grew to the point that school officials and sheriff's deputies spent Tuesday morning interviewing Buckhorn students and calming panicked parents.

No gun was found at the school on Winchester Road in New Market, but the rumor mill caused a significant disruption at Buckhorn, where about 50 checked out of school and 258 missed school Tuesday, officials said. The 1,200-student school averages about 80 absences a day, according to Geraldine Tibbs, spokeswoman for Madison County schools.

The rumor, tracked to a single conversation between Buckhorn students who had said they were concerned a shooting could happen at their school, morphed into a story that there would be a school shooting in the Huntsville area every Friday, starting with Buckhorn, said Principal Tommy Ledbetter.

Ledbetter said once the rumor made it to Facebook and made the text message rounds, Friday had evolved into Tuesday. Ledbetter said he received calls from a few parents Tuesday saying they'd kept their child home from school just in case.

"When it started spreading, we got involved," he said. "Parents are like us; they're going to err on the side of caution."

The Madison County Sheriff's Department issued a news release stating that after interviewing students, "it was determined the threat was a false alarm." Ledbetter said no disciplinary action would be taken toward any students.

"The school was not locked down, and no threat was posed to any students at the school at any time," said the statement from Sheriff's Investigator Brent Patterson. "At this time, a criminal act has not been committed; therefore, any action will be handled within the school system."

Madison County Superintendent Terry Davis said the situation at Buckhorn could happen again.

"We realize the rumor mill is going to happen," Davis said. "We decided to track down every rumor going around because you can't take those chances."

School officials say the anxiety is understandable, given the events of the past three Fridays.

On Friday, Feb. 5, a ninth-grader shot another student to death at Discovery Middle School in Madison, and on Friday, Feb. 12, a professor at the University of Alabama in Huntsville opened fire in a faculty meeting, killing three and wounding three others. This past Friday, Sparkman Middle School was under lockdown after a student brought a knife to school.

"A month ago, we probably wouldn't have handled it the way we did," Ledbetter said.

Madison Superintendent Dee Fowler said he's dealt with similar rumors since the Discovery shooting, and every rumor is taken seriously. He said if parents have any concerns, contact the central office or the school administrator.

"E-mail us and ask specifically," he said. "Get it from the horse's mouth."

If it's a major rumor, Fowler said, Madison would use the parent e-mail list serve or use local media to dispel rumors.